My first source is an article from the Wisconsin State Journal. The article, “It wouldn’t be Wisconsin without fish fries and boils” was publish in 2000. Even though the article is quite short, I know it is a credible source because it was published in one of Wisconsins most purchased daily papers. I chose this newspaper article to start with because it simply states a few key reasons as to why fish fries became and still are so popular to Wisconsinites. The article swiftly states that German heritage and the Roman Catholic faith have a large influence to why fish fries stayed throughout restaurants even outside of the lent time period (Martell). The article also includes what most traditional and modern fish fries are served with: “chunks of breaded or batter-fried fish, usually had- dock or cod, with coleslaw, rye bread, french fries and, in the German tradition, potatopan- cakes (Martell).
This source gave me a great introduction to my topic and also to historical background that I was unsure about. This source will help me grow my knowledge about fish fries because now I know the simple information and growing off from this article will be useful due to some questions I have: What did German heritage have to do with influencing the fish fry to begin? Also, Why is this tradition so regional prominent? I am ready to further explore my topic now that I have a basic understanding of some important historical information. I am so curious to see if I will lean more towards the cultural or religious background of my topic. One thing that really bothered me about this article was that is was short and simple and did not include any direct examples other than places you can go for fish fries today.
Overall, I am really happy I picked this article because now I know where to base my further research. I feel that this article will lead in me to the right direction.
Works Cited:
Martell, Chris. “It wouldn’t be Wisconsin without fish fries and boils.” Wisconsin State Journal, Sunday, Febuary 27. 2000. #7G. Access NewspaperArchive.com.web. 29 Oct. 2013.
This seems like an awesome source for getting some background knowledge about fish fries! It also seems like a very interesting topic! I like how you said that the article didn’t give you enough information. Hopefully you can expand some keywords after reading this article when looking for sources that will help narrow your research question down. I think that you chose a good first source because it started to give you more background information. Good job!
I think that you are going in the right direction with this. Maybe you could do some research on the Catholic faith. I know that during Lent, Catholic’s aren’t supposed to eat meat on Friday’s. And techniqually fish isn’t meat. So that might be why they started fish fry friday’s. I know that you are sill researching, but I think you should also look up more on the German heritage and how it got to Wisconsin.
Although your source was short and sweet, you are off to a good start. After reading your post, you really got my attention when you wrote how you are debating between taking a religious or a cultural view point. I suggest, that maybe you could do both? Try to research how religion influences someone’s culture and traditions of fish fry’s, or possibly vice versa?
I am very impressed by the interest you created in me by describing your topic to me. I noticed in this post that the article you chose must have been a credible source, as well as interesting. The fact that the article you found was so sort, but ended up answering a few lingering questions that you had left unanswered makes me think that you will find adequate information on this topic. One thing I might suggest to you would be the use of rhetorical terms in the article and how they may form an opinion on the topic, and further explain any questions you might have. I see you have already mentioned credibility towards the article in general, but what about the events around that time? Did they have an impact on how fish fries evolved and came to be? Just some food for thought. Great job overall, I am intrigued to know more!